St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-02-10
TO SAVE THEIR LIVES.
Bill Nye Explains Why Boys Leave IL

Farm.
l desire to offer for sale, through the
advertising columns of your magazise,
writes Bill Nye to the Northwestern
Miller, the large and prolific wheat
growing lands connected with my es-
tates. My object in selling these lands
is to get them into the hands of some
one who has more means than | have.
The lands are in IL high state of cult
walton, but in order to get the best re-
suits, more machinery is needed next
year than feel like purchasing. We
need two new sulky ploughs on the
place, two seeders, a new tanning mill,
thresher with traction engine, three
reapers with binders, a cut worm Grad
icatOr, q curculiO buster, squash bug
arrestOr, a Hessian fly detectOr,
chinch bug crusher, potato bug asas-
sinatOr and steam gopher stabber.
When | started in to farm, | sOwed
sixty acres to wheat, ten acres to oats,
and planted some vegetables. Joint
wOIms took the grain, cabbage worms
paralyzed the kraut orchard, cut worms
took the tomatoes and melons, apple
worms devoured my choice Siberian
crab apples, and a tapewOrm carried
off my hired man.
then began to see "why our boys
leave the farm"
They do it to save their lives. |
next resolved to abandon the vegeta-
bles and devote my valuable space to
grain.
| bought a new team one member of
which was "cribber" while the other
had the "thumps." Before that l did
not know that "thumps" was a con-
tagious disease outside the prize ring.
That fall | had $50 bushels of No. 3
wheat, worth AZ cents in Minneapolis,
a COW that had hollow horn so that
had to be up half the night with her,
horse that had the thumps so that he
couldn't take a long breath, and IA
cribber that would catch hold of a
hitching post and suck in so much at
mcsphere that every bOdy in our cOun-
ty gasped for breath. L said to myself
this is the reason that boys leave the
farm and go away to business col
leges where they learn to make pen
manship birds and capitals with side
whiskers on them.
The past season decided to grow
wheat OIL my estate. In June the crop
looked well, but in July, while | was
engaged one day in sharing gOphers
with pickerel line, discovered sew
eral small dappled bugs, about three
twentieths of an inch in length, play
ing 81 spy" in the wheat. They had a
peculiar aroma which they carried
with them to shed in case they got
stepped on. l carried a few of these
bugs to friend of mine who had been
in the farming business all his life, and
asked him what they were. He said
they were chinch bugs, and that by
and by there would be more of them.
He was right.
Every little while a female chinch |
bug would come cackling off the nest,
and you could find 500 eggs there as
soon as she went away. If l watched
her carefully with "a glass, l noticed
that she would wander about few
minutes, then suddenly she would re-
member something and go back to the
nest, where she would lay 500 more
eggs. In this way it did not take long
to accumulate enough chinch bugs SO
that | could supply those who had
been less fortunate. So | told the 9th
er farmers that they could come over
any time and help themselves. | al
lowed them to take the young bugs, or
eggs enough to hatch their own bugs,
just as they thought best.
In July the chinch bugs were all
thrifty and the wheat was all ripe. 1t
was too early to thrash, SO l stacked
my wheat. 1t rained last week with
great severity. Yesterday l went out
To see my stacks. | can do most any |
other manual labor, but [ am not a
good stacker. The man who examined
the stacks said that he was surprised
that any rain fell elsewhere. 1t look
ed to him as though these stacks had
gone over the Northwest and secured
all there was. But he cOnsoled me IL
good deal after all. He said it was
really no loss, for the grain itself was
nothing but straw with little dash of
bran in it. My wheat lands are now
for sale. L could farm them myself if
| felt able, but IL man, in order to farm
it successfully, must have an income
from other sources. In order to sue
coed in farming, young man should
marry rich and play good game of
poker